The chief mate of a replica 18th-century sailing ship that sank off North Carolina during Hurricane Sandy told investigators Tuesday that the ship's captain twice refused his pleas to order the crew to abandon ship.
It wasn't until he made a third plea that the captain gave the order — moments before the ship rolled and tossed the crew into the water.

....

Svendsen said the ship was taking on water and had no power when it rolled over and sank. He also told investigators the captain didn't alert Coast Guard officials of the ship's deteriorating condition when he first suggested it, with Capt. Robin Walbridge choosing to focus on fixing failing generators instead. Svendsen disagreed with Walbridge on that decision, along with several others....

Before ever leaving New London, Conn., for St. Petersburg, Fla., Svendsen said he had told Walbridge that he and other crew members were concerned about his decision to head directly toward the top of the storm as it approached.
"I had mentioned other options as far as staying in and not going out to sea. Robin felt the ship was safer at sea," Svendsen said....

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S/V Haleakala (Hawaiian for" House of the Sun")
C&C 35 MKIII Hull # 76
Parkville, Maryland
(photos by Joe McCary)
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“Sailing is just the bottom line, like adding up the score in bridge. My real interest is in the tremendous game of life.”- Dennis Conner

The chief mate of a replica 18th-century sailing ship that sank off North Carolina during Hurricane Sandy told investigators Tuesday that the ship's captain twice refused his pleas to order the crew to abandon ship.
It wasn't until he made a third plea that the captain gave the order — moments before the ship rolled and tossed the crew into the water.

....

Svendsen said the ship was taking on water and had no power when it rolled over and sank. He also told investigators the captain didn't alert Coast Guard officials of the ship's deteriorating condition when he first suggested it, with Capt. Robin Walbridge choosing to focus on fixing failing generators instead. Svendsen disagreed with Walbridge on that decision, along with several others....

Before ever leaving New London, Conn., for St. Petersburg, Fla., Svendsen said he had told Walbridge that he and other crew members were concerned about his decision to head directly toward the top of the storm as it approached.
"I had mentioned other options as far as staying in and not going out to sea. Robin felt the ship was safer at sea," Svendsen said....

Looks like from that particular day of testimony, his account of the proceedings is a bit more accurate than that of the AP, or VIRGINIAN-PILOT...

Quote:

The first time I weighed in about the Bounty sinking I said that if “I’ve learned anything in my career, it’s that speculation rarely lines up with facts.” It turns out that facts rarely line up with facts, either. My own local paper – The Virginian Pilot – reported that Svendsen stated that he “twice urged Walbridge to abandon ship before Walbridge agreed,” and later in the same article report that “Svendsen twice told Walbridge they should abandon ship before Walbridge agreed. The boat rolled before an orderly evacuation could happen, spilling crew members into the ocean.” The Pilot left out that the time between his first urging and Walbridge’s agreement was two minutes. Sincerely – there was a time for an “orderly evacuation,” and it was long before Svendsen first urged his captain.

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S/V Haleakala (Hawaiian for" House of the Sun")
C&C 35 MKIII Hull # 76
Parkville, Maryland
(photos by Joe McCary)
Charter member of the Chesapeake Lion posse

Our blog- To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

“Sailing is just the bottom line, like adding up the score in bridge. My real interest is in the tremendous game of life.”- Dennis Conner

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.___________________________
S/V Haleakala (Hawaiian for" House of the Sun")
C&C 35 MKIII Hull # 76
Parkville, Maryland
(photos by Joe McCary)
Charter member of the Chesapeake Lion posse

Our blog- To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

“Sailing is just the bottom line, like adding up the score in bridge. My real interest is in the tremendous game of life.”- Dennis Conner

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.___________________________
S/V Haleakala (Hawaiian for" House of the Sun")
C&C 35 MKIII Hull # 76
Parkville, Maryland
(photos by Joe McCary)
Charter member of the Chesapeake Lion posse

Our blog- To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

“Sailing is just the bottom line, like adding up the score in bridge. My real interest is in the tremendous game of life.”- Dennis Conner

1. Only 15 % of the seams were re-caulked for the whole boat. After the boat was hulled out, there were 4 to 5 weeping area from the hull.

2. Crews did decent job to repair the seams.
3. Above waterline and deck, bad shape and need repair, Upside, only 6 years old, but excessive decay.
4. Planking decayed from inside to about 2/3 of the plank

Yes he is talking about the shocking degradation (rot) of the wood on the side planking. He differentiated between rot ( fresh water) with spores and other rot. Only way to fix is to replace. He recommended to Walbridge to replace all. Walbridge replaced some, but wanted to wait until the next haul

When asked if he told CG at the next inspection he said no. He said he told his boss.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.___________________________
S/V Haleakala (Hawaiian for" House of the Sun")
C&C 35 MKIII Hull # 76
Parkville, Maryland
(photos by Joe McCary)
Charter member of the Chesapeake Lion posse

Our blog- To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

“Sailing is just the bottom line, like adding up the score in bridge. My real interest is in the tremendous game of life.”- Dennis Conner

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